Nikki Haley Wants Drug Testing for Jobless Benefits and Makes Up Stats to Support Them
September 10, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Gov. Nikki Haley (R) told the Lexington Rotary Club Thursday that she wants South Carolinians to undergo drug screenings before they can receive unemployment benefits. “I so want drug testing,” she said. “I so want it.” “The problem is that I’ve got to make sure the numbers work… It’s certainly not off the table for me. It’s something that I’ve been wanting since the first day I walked into office, but we do have not make sure it’s not politically popular, it’s actually a good feasible thing to do.” The South Carolina Republican recalled a story about the high rate of drug test failures at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory. “Down on River Site, they were hiring a few hundred people, and when we sat down and talked to them — this was back before the campaign — when we sat down and talked to them, they said of everybody they interviewed, half of them failed a drug test, and of the half that was left, of that 50 percent, the other half couldn’t read and write properly,” Haley explained. But Department of Energy spokesman Jim Giusti told The Huffington Post’s Arthur Delaney that the failure rate was far lower than Haley had claimed. “Half the people who applied for a job last year or year 2009 did not fail the drug test,” Giusti said. “At the peak of hiring under the Recovery Act, we had less than 1 percent of those hired test positive.” He added that job applicants are not even tested at the River Site until after they have been hired.
Continue reading …
• Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk with all your thoughts • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher • Click here for all today’s scores from around Britain and Europe 8 min Carrick has come on for Cleverley. That’s a bad blow for United, and sadly predictable given the way Kevin Davies usually plays against them. 7 min Rooney clears off the line from Eagles. In open play as well. A cross from the left wasn’t cleared; Bolton had a couple of attempts blocked and then a third, from Eagles, was booted away by Rooney, who had sensed danger and drifted back. Shades of Eric Cantona against Chelsea in 1996. Ah, in fact it was Ferdinand who cleared it, although Rooney was right alongside him. 6 min Cleverley has to go off because of that foul from Davies. Michael Carrick will replace him. GOAL! Bolton 0-1 Manchester United (Hernandez 5) A goal of devastating simplicity. Nani runs at Robinson down the right and really hammers a low, sidefooted cross towards the near post; Hernandez runs Cahill one way and then the other before nipping in front of Jaaskelainen to poke the ball in. That was a beautiful goal. 4 min It’s been all United so far, although everything has been in front of Bolton. Kevin Davies takes Tom Cleverley from behind, which has both managers on their feet complaining. 2 min “Rob, could you please explain what you mean by your remark ‘You don’t have to be a foreigner to get a culture shock in Bolton,” says Eric Hyland. I mean that the fibrous element of Bolton’s play is a shock to those who are unfamiliar with it – whether that person is David de Gea, Chris Smalling or Tom Cleverley. Is that okay? 1 min There’s a lively old atmosphere at Burnden Park. The camera hovers on David de Gea, inevitably. This will be an interesting 90 minutes for him, one way or another. United kick off from right to left. They are in red; Bolton are in white. Question of the day What’s going on with Gary Barlow’s hardass act ? From the man who wrote Back For Good, it’s more than a little unnerving. “Being born in a stable doesn’t make you a horse (as the Duke of Wellington noted when explaining why he – unlike Owen Coyle – chose to be British, not Irish)…” continues Duncan McDonnell. This could go on, and what fun that would be for our readers. “‘Owen Coyle, possibly the next great British manager’?” quotes Duncan McDonnell. “He played for Ireland Rob.” And what a lovely Irish accent this Paisley-born manager has. Team news Both sides make two changes from their last game. Bolton bring in Dedryck Boyata and Mark Davies for Gretar Steinsson and Fabrice Muamba. For United, Rio Ferdinand and Javier Hernandez replace Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck. That means Phil Jones will move to right back. Bolton (4-4-2) Jaaskelainen; Boyata, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Eagles, Mark Davies, Reo-Coker, Petrov; Klasnic, Kevin Davies. Subs: Bogdan, Muamba, Tuncay, Pratley, Ngog, Kakuta, Wheater. Man Utd (4-4-2) De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Nani, Cleverley, Anderson, Young; Rooney, Hernandez. Subs: Berbatov, Giggs, Smalling, Park, Carrick, Fabio, Lindegaard. Preamble Evening. If Stoke on a wet, windy night is seen as the acid test of a foreign footballer’s capacity to like it up him, then Bolton isn’t far behind – the Jamie MacDonald to Stoke’s Malcolm Tucker (or should that be the other way round?). Owen Coyle, possibly the next great British manager, has brought Bolton’s football into the 21st century, but he has also been smart enough to retain the fibrousness that has made Bolton such awkward opponents in the past decade. As such, this will be a cracking test for Manchester United’s infectious, intrepid young side. Not just David de Gea – who plays – but also the phalanx of young Englishmen who have been so impressive in the early weeks of the season. You don’t have to be a foreigner to get a culture shock in Bolton. Premier League 2011-12 Bolton Wanderers Manchester United Premier League Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Krugman: Chicago Fed Chief Reminds Fed Officials They’re Legally Obliged to Lower Unemployment
September 10, 2011 No Comment
enlarge While Krugman had positive things to say about Obama’s jobs plan ( click on the link for the rest ), I think the more interesting news here is his report that Chicago’s Federal Reserve chief gave a speech about unemployment: First things first: I was favorably surprised by the new Obama jobs plan, which is significantly bolder and better than I expected. It’s not nearly as bold as the plan I’d want in an ideal world. But if it actually became law, it would probably make a significant dent in unemployment. Of course, it isn’t likely to become law, thanks to GOP. opposition. Nor is anything else likely to happen that will do much to help the 14 million Americans out of work. And that is both a tragedy and an outrage. Before I get to the Obama plan, let me talk about the other important economic speech of the week, which was given by Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve of Chicago. Mr. Evans said, forthrightly, what some of us have been hoping to hear from Fed officials for years now. As Mr. Evans pointed out, the Fed, both as a matter of law and as a matter of social responsibility, should try to keep both inflation and unemployment low — and while inflation seems likely to stay near or below the Fed’s target of around 2 percent, unemployment remains extremely high. So how should the Fed be reacting? Mr. Evans: “Imagine that inflation was running at 5 percent against our inflation objective of 2 percent. Is there a doubt that any central banker worth their salt would be reacting strongly to fight this high inflation rate? No, there isn’t any doubt. They would be acting as if their hair was on fire. We should be similarly energized about improving conditions in the labor market.” But the Fed’s hair is manifestly not on fire, nor do most politicians seem to see any urgency about the situation. These days, the best — or at any rate the alleged wise men and women who are supposed to be looking after the nation’s welfare — lack all conviction, while the worst, as represented by much of the G.O.P., are filled with a passionate intensity. So the unemployed are being abandoned. O.K., about the Obama plan: It calls for about $200 billion in new spending — much of it on things we need in any case, like school repair, transportation networks, and avoiding teacher layoffs — and $240 billion in tax cuts. That may sound like a lot, but it actually isn’t. The lingering effects of the housing bust and the overhang of household debt from the bubble years are creating a roughly $1 trillion per year hole in the U.S. economy, and this plan — which wouldn’t deliver all its benefits in the first year — would fill only part of that hole. And it’s unclear, in particular, how effective the tax cuts would be at boosting spending. Still, the plan would be a lot better than nothing, and some of its measures, which are specifically aimed at providing incentives for hiring, might produce relatively a large employment bang for the buck. As I said, it’s much bolder and better than I expected. President Obama’s hair may not be on fire, but it’s definitely smoking; clearly and gratifyingly, he does grasp how desperate the jobs situation is.
Continue reading …Sally Quinn Column on 9/11 Trashes Conservative ‘Ignorance,’ Sharia ‘Scare Campaigns’
September 10, 2011 No Comment
In Saturday's On Faith section in the Washington Post, they allow religious leaders to reflect on 9/11, including Imam Abdul Faisal-Rauf, the organizer of the Ground Zero mega-mosque proposal in Manhattan through his Cordoba Initiative. (He said don't worry about those violent Muslim radicals, they're a tiny and spent force.) Sally Quinn, the editor of the On Faith website, unleashed a column in the Metro section that quickly transformed from thoughts about where she was on 9/11 to trashing the “right wing Christians” for denouncing Islam and the intensifying “ignorance” of politicians and their clueless “scare campaigns” against Sharia law. She even blamed the media for calling Muslim terrorists Muslims and not calling Christian terrorists Christians: Sadly, the answers many came up with after 9/11 were to blame this and other atrocities on Muslims. There are over a billion Muslims in the world. Most are peaceful. Only a handful distort their religion to commit murderous acts. In the past decade, false perceptions and ignorance have intensified. When Barack Obama ran for president many thought he was Muslim (he is a Christian but almost 20 percent of Americans today still believe he is a Muslim and have a negative opinion of him for that reason.) Since then we have had candidates like John McCain say he would have trouble voting for a Muslim for president and Herman Cain saying he wouldn’t want a Muslim in his administration. Right wing Christian leaders have denounced Islam. Politicians have run scare campaigns against “sharia law” about which they clearly have no clue. The outcry against the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero, which was not a mosque and not at Ground Zero, became an international affair. The Koran burning resulted in many deaths abroad. Women wearing headscarves have been forced to defend their choices. Muslim terrorists are routinely identified as Muslim terrorists while Christian terrorists are not identified by their religion. Why won’t Muslim leaders speak out against terrorism if they are so against it, critics ask? They do all the time in newspapers and Web sites, including this one. Muslim communities across the nation are constantly reaching out to combat those who attack a religion that has been hijacked by a small group of zealots. One such effort, this week in Washington, are blood drives around the country to try to save more lives than those lost on 9/11. These are citizens who care deeply, many of whom have sent sons and daughters to fight and die for this country. At Dulles Airport last weekend with my family, I watched as a Muslim family, father and son in Western clothes, mother and daughter in long dresses but no headscarves, baby girl in tow, were stopped at immigration and fingerprinted. “Why don’t they dress like Americans?” someone in the crowd murmured. My daughter in law, who is half Persian and has not yet received a passport with her new surname, was questioned by the immigration officer when we came through. “How is she part of the family?” he asked. I pointed out that she was my son’s wife and that she had a different name from her husband as did I. I, of course, was not questioned. As I mentioned, I did not pray on 9/11. The only thing I could think of to pray about was for answers and there were none. However, I will pray this Sunday. I will pray that we as Americans, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Agnostics and others can come together to end prejudice, discrimination and hatred. Violence is not more a feature of Islam, than those qualities are features of other faiths and people of no faith. Let’s stop it before it gets really ugly and turns us into the very people we criticize and so desperately do not want to be. Quinn took the same approach in a new interview about 9/11 with evangelical preacher and author Joel Osteen: QUINN: Obviously the terrorists were Muslim and then a lot of people sort of became anti-Muslim in this country because of that. You know, there are over a billion Muslims in the world and most of them are peace-loving. What do you say to your parishioners and people you speak to when they try to blame Islam for this and focus in on that as sort of the source of evil? OSTEEN: I always encourage them that this is a small group of people that are way off base. It’s not one religion; you can’t define them all as a whole.
Continue reading …
Protocols drawn up in the wake of the World Trade Centre attack gave Blair the authority to blow the plane up, he has revealed Tony Blair has revealed how he came close to ordering a passenger jet over UK airspace to be shot down “some time after” 9/11 because it was not responding to air traffic control. He said fighter jets had been prepared to take off after the plane “appeared to be deviating for the path it was in” and new protocols drawn up in the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre gave him the authority to blow the plane up. “We were really not very far away from having to take a final decision as to whether to bring the plane down, because we had the provision to do that,” he said. Asked how close he came to giving the order to shoot it down. “It came quite close. It was a situation where I ended up talking directly to the officer who was in charge of the operation and trying to work out whether the plane in question was for some reason a mishap which obviously was the overwhelming likelihood, but what if it wasn’t?” he said in an interview with Jon Sopel on BBC World News. “It was an extremely frightening moment.” He said that fighter jets had been “prepared en route to take off” in readiness to intercept the jet, which was later found not to be a threat. Blair did not specify when the threat occurred, but said it was some time “later” in his premiership. Asked by Sopel whether he would have given the order to take it down, he said he probably would have not. “I don’t know. I think we had already passed the first threshold of when I was supposed to take the decision, and I was pushing it back as much as I could for obvious reasons, and I think probably in the end I would have taken the risk that indeed it was – as it turned out to be – that they had just lost touch with air traffic control because of the consequences of shooting it down and finding that it was [not a terrorist threat]. “There was at a later time when we then had to put in place a whole lot of protocols, frameworks for action in circumstances where you lost contact with a plane or a plane was not in proper contact with air traffic control,” he said. In the same interview, Blair says he believes the battle against terrorism will be “a generation-long struggle”. But he says the world has learned a lot in the 10 years since 9/11. “We have learned a lot about how to deal with the terrorist threat, we have also learned a lot about nation-building.” He said the Arab spring was a good thing and the most important country in the region was Egypt. Tony Blair September 11 2001 United States Global terrorism Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Will the networks have trouble remembering 9/11 without getting in their digs against President Bush and the lack of wisdom in his Iraq war policy? The Democratic Party narrative certainly slipped into a 9/11 remembrance segment Friday night on PBS's Washington Week. NPR reporter Tom Gjelten proclaimed the usual “we took the eye off the ball” line about Afghanistan, and later, reporter Alexis Simendinger underlined a large lack of confidence in Bush's going into Iraq: MAJOR GARRETT, National Journal: It was a short war on the front: rapid victory over the Taliban, consolidation of that country, elections, all of those things looked very positive. And then the president and his administration became extremely focused on Iraq. TOM GJELTEN, National Public Radio: Our attention and resources were diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq. Special operations forces that were key to the fight in Afghanistan were redirected to Iraq. As a result, there was not an end game in Afghanistan, and ten years later, we are still there. John Harwood of CNBC explained that the wars “became very polarizing,” and that everything we didn't like about the contentiousness of our politics (after the 2000 election battle, I'd assume) was made worse. Then Alexis Simendinger, with National Journal during the early Bush years and now with Real Clear Politics, underlined Iraq again as protester signs were shown: ALEXIS SIMENDINGER: President Bush felt so strongly that he wanted to rebuild confidence, and in fact his two-term presidency was undermined to such a large extent by the lack of confidence in some of the steps that were taken afterward, obviously going into Iraq, et cetera, weapons of mass destruction. The signs read “Why is our economy in the toilet? It's the war!” This is almost amusing considering how much better the economic indicators were in the Bush years compared to now. The other said “Bush out of Iraq” with the words “Nixon” and “Vietnam” crossed out and “Bush” and “Iraq” scribbled in red. There were only two historic soundbites in the remembrance, which took most of the show's half-hour: the first sentence of President Bush's remarks on the night of 9/11 (no National Cathedral speech, no standing on the rubble with a bullhorn), and the first sentence of Bush's announcement of war in Afghanistan.
Continue reading …Britain braces itself for storms and floods as hurricane Katia approaches
September 10, 2011 No Comment
Winds of up to 80mph are predicted to hit north-west Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England Severe gales and flooding are expected to hit parts of the UK as hurricane Katia makes its way across the Atlantic. Winds of up to 80mph are predicted to hit north-west Scotland by Monday, with Northern Ireland, north Wales and northern England also likely to be affected. Forecaster Michael Dukes, of MeteoGroup UK, said: “It looks likely that this will be a significant storm event for mid-September. Strong winds have been predicted, which could result in trees coming down, causing major structural damage and travel delays. Inevitably, with the remnants of a tropical storm, there will also be a risk of flash flooding. “The hurricane is moving slowly at the moment and current predictions show that the remnants of the storm will hit north-west Scotland by Monday.” While it is rare for so-called “warm core” hurricanes to turn into “cold core” hurricanes crossing the Atlantic, rather than declining into a depression, unusual weather conditions have made hurricane Katia more threatening. The storm will hit the west coast of Ireland first. “This is on the way and it is a significant storm,” Met Éireann forecaster Gerry Murphy said. His organisation is predicting winds of 100mph, with the north seeing the worst winds. By the time Katia reaches the UK on Monday, it is expected to have declined from a category four hurricane – the maximum is five – to a strong post-tropical storm. On Saturday morning Katia remained a category one hurricane and was accelerating north-eastwards. It is expected to make landfall in Ireland around dawn on Monday. Tropical hurricanes are usually slow-moving phenomena, fuelled by warm seas and humid air, which fizzle out as they move north into the colder air of the Atlantic. In Katia’s case, however, it appears that unusually low-altitude and strengthening jet stream winds between North Carolina and New York are providing the storm with an oceanic conveyor belt, speeding its passage towards Ireland and the UK and allowing it to maintain an unusual intensity. Tom Tobler, of MeteoGroup, added: “It is looking like the storms will hit early on Monday morning, with the most severe weather coming in the middle of the day. Gusts of over 60mph will be seen quite widely over northern and central Scotland and Northern Ireland and even down into northern England. “The maximum gusts in western Scotland could easily get up to 75 or 80mph and potentially it could get above that. It could cause disruption and uproot trees, especially as they still have a lot of leaves on, being early autumn.” Forecasters say the predicted high winds could coincide with high tides and western coasts in particular are at risk from localised flooding. An Environment Agency spokesman said: “At present there is a low risk of flooding across the north coast of Wales and the north-west coast of England during Monday from strong to gale force winds, large waves and a surge which coincides with a period of spring tides.” Weather Flooding Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Ireland United States New York Peter Beaumont guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …What Herman Cain Isn’t Going To Tell You About Chile’s Privatized Pensions
September 10, 2011 No CommentMy chiropractor is a nice guy – a Republican, but open-minded. But because he’s so busy, he doesn’t know that much about what’s going on (like the majority of Americans). I think he’s fairly representative of the interested but under-informed voter. Anyway, he asked me if I’d seen the Republican presidential debate; he wanted to know what I thought. “If I were a Republican? The only one I’d consider voting for is Huntsman,” I said. “But of course you have to be a nut to win the Republican primaries.” “I thought Herman Cain seemed pretty smart. He was talking about making Social Security like the Chilean model,” he said. “What do you know about that?” “Oh, jeebus,” I said. “The Chilean model. The same one that right-wingers have been trying to shove down our throats for 30 years .” (This was all mumbled, since I was face down on his table at the time.) “First of all, it was a mess. It was imposed by Pinochet under his military dictatorship, and the generals revolted. They insisted they get to keep the old plan, and they did. Second, a lot of people didn’t get anywhere near the money they actually needed to retire , but the administrators made a fortune.” I didn’t even get into the meat of it. Chileans were charged exorbitant fees (15 to 20 percent for all costs) in order to choose which pension fund association in which to invest. Depending on which risk level they choose, they’re equivalent to our mutual funds, IRAs or CDs; by law, they have to have a minimum return. From Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries, March/April 1998: There are currently 13 privately run AFP’s authorized to manage a private pension fund covering a group of workers. The original 12 in 1981 grew to 22 in 1993, but competition caused this to fall to 13. Investments now totaling around $30 billion are regulated by law, and about 28 percent is currently invested in equities, 42 percent in government bonds, 30 percent in Chilean financial institutions and companies, and a small amount in foreign securities. So it’s not like you get to watch CNBC all day and make a killing in the stock market — you’re limited to the official funds, and they all have roughly the same investments. And it’s a much better deal for someone with a big paycheck. (IIRC, a big shortfall was caused by the fact that women, especially poor women, dropped out of the job market to raise children or take care of a sick relative. So when it came time to retire, they had very little money from which to draw. They since added a minimum benefit — gee, sounds almost like their original Social Security program!) The article goes on to warn about the private plans being pushed by Republicans at the time: In the event of a stock calamity in the fashion of 1929, the privatization groups tell us that the government, not they, will assume the responsibility of payments to retirees of specified minimum amounts. This will, of course, require that federal borrowing be repaid by the public. In addition, the purchasing power of retirees will be cut at a bad time for the economy. Workers in desperate need because of lost jobs or pay cuts cannot be expected to take kindly to a sharp reduction in their nest eggs and will likely make demands on the government for restitution. Opportunities for fraud: The financial media have stories practically every day about scams being perpetrated on even highly sophisticated investors. Will the scamming of workers and their beneficiaries become a major growth industry? The lesson from Chile may well be summed up in two words: Caveat emptor. The big hero of the latest right-wing push is Jose Piñera, former secretary of labor and social security and the architect of this pension plan. Would you be surprised to hear that he now draws wingnut welfare as a senior fellow at the Cato Institute? Of course not. Piñera founded “The International Center for Pension Reform” in order to promote the Chilean model everywhere else. I occasionally see him on my teevee. What I don’t usually hear him acknowledge is that in 2008, the Chilean plan started moving back toward more government oversight and control. But you won’t hear many Bobbleheads talking about that. It might ruin the free market fairy tale.
Continue reading …
• Email john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk with your musings • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher • Holler at John on Twitter if you are in to that sort of thing • Click here for all the latest scores across Europe 3.27pm: Port Vale, in their grey knickers, have gone 1-0 up against the hapless Plymouth. And in better news for the south coast, Southampton are now 2-1 up against Steve McClaren’s Nottingham Forest. 3.25pm: Finally, a bit of a breather. It’s been a hectic start. Everton, Manchester City, Stoke and Chelsea are ahead. The only game in the Premier League that is goalless is the affair at the Emirates. With 25 minutes gone things might start getting cranky there soon. 3.23pm: Palace have come from behind to lead 2-1 at Elland Road and in that big game in League Two I mentioned earlier Morecambe are 2-0 up against this morning’s leaders Crawley. 3.22pm: “‘Glanced wide by Bendtner – Who really should have done better,’ will probably be the name of his autobiography,” reckons Lucien Hoare. The place to be for shots on target, though, is Gigg Lane – it’s Bury 1-3 Rochdale with only a quarter of the game gone. 3.21pm: GOAL! Stoke 1-0 Liverpool (Walters 21pen) Against the run of play at the home side take the lead. Carragher concedes the spot-kick, Walters makes no mistake from the spot. 3.20pm: GOAL! Everton 1-0 Aston Villa (Osman 19) Can’t tell you how it happened I’m afraid, but the Toffees are one-up. 3.19pm: MISSED PENALTY! And Carlos Tevez is the culprit. Al Habsi makes the save, but it was a weak effort. 3.18pm: … GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea (Terry 18) … the free-kick thwocks a post but Sunderland can’t clear and the ball breaks to Terry who smacks the ball home at the second attempt. Harsh on Sunderland, who’d been matching the visitors. 3.17pm: Anelka gets tripped on the edge of the box, giving Chelsea a very dangerous set-piece … 3.15pm: Arsenal are this close to going ahead at the Emirates. Walcott beats the keeper but his shot is cleared off the line by Caulker. 3.14pm: Stunning save from Friedel keeps Tottenham on level terms at Molineux. There’s goalmouth action all over the place thus far. 3.13pm: GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Wigan (Aguero 13) The Argentinian duo combine up front for City – Tevez sets up Aguero for the opening goal of the game. 3.11pm: Sunderland have a dangerous free-kick at the Stadium of Light – whipped in by Cattermole, glanced wide by Bendtner who really should have done better. It was a free header, 10 yards out. 3.11pm: Arteta is on set-piece duty for Arsenal – he whips in a corner that is cleared by Ashley Williams for the Swans. 3.10pm: And Southampton have equalised. And so have West Ham. So it’s as you were. 3.09pm: Goals in the Championship: Portsmouth are ahead at Upton Park, and Forest are 1-0 up at Southampton. 3.07pm: Stunning save from Szczesny keeps the scores level at the Emirates, with Graham close to poking Swansea into a surprise lead. 3.05pm: An early goal the A58 derby between Bury and Rochdale – the Dale are ahead at Gigg Lane. 3.03pm: Aaron Ramsey has missed an early chance at the Emirates. And Liverpool have started strongly at the Britannia Stadium. 3.01pm: What ho! Optimism alert! “I am an Arsenal fan and I am feeling thoroughly optimistic about the new signings,” writes Robert Murphy. “Today’s team, on paper at least, seems to have a balance and maturity that I haven’t seen in an Arsenal team for a long time. I predict a 3-0 Arsenal win. I should have learned by now, but I haven’t. Also, PG Wodehouse is the funniest writer I have ever read.” 2.55pm: Carlos Tevez has apparently taken his nippers on the pitch pre-match. They seem to have spent as much time on the pitch as their dad has of late. 2.51pm: From the Twittersphere: this is slightly troubling from Plymouth fan Jo Lumani. Port Vale will be facing Argyle at Home Park today wearing “grey jerseys and grey knickers” according to the teamsheet . 2.47pm: “Not all Everton fans agree, but I love a Wilsonesque 4-6-0,” writes Gary Naylor. “With Rodwell and Fellaini holding, I expect Osman, Coleman, Bily and Cahill to raid forward. Who picks up whom?” 2.41pm: The sun is shining at Molineux. Which is a good job for those in the not-yet-completed North Bank . Pre-kick-off email dept. “Never got into the TV version of Jeeves and Wooster,” writes Ed. “The idea of it is good – Fry and Laurie perfect casting etc. – but it just can’t emulate Wodehouse’s zip, pep and guile. Much like some team or other can’t emulate some other team or other, or something. Well, you fill in the football analogy bit.” “The Verve (from l-r),” begins Dan Poole. “Joe Cole with hair; Paolo Maldini after a month or two in Wigan; Harry Redknapp back in the day; Richard Dunne’s second cousin once removed. ” The gaffer , Sean Ingle, reckons the lay on Everton is the bet of the day today. He says put your house on it and he’ll personally refund anyone who loses money by following his advice.* *Please note: Sean will not personally refund personally refund anyone who loses money by following his advice. Man City v Wigan Man City: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Milner, Toure Yaya, Johnson, Silva, Aguero, Tevez. Subs: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Dzeko, Nasri, Toure, Balotelli, Razak. Wigan: Al Habsi, Boyce, Caldwell, Lopez, Figueroa, Rodallega, Diame, Watson, McArthur, Moses, Di Santo. Subs: Kirkland, McCarthy, Crusat, Gomez, Sammon, Jones, Stam. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) Arsenal v Swansea Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Frimpong, Arteta, Arshavin, Walcott, van Persie. Subs: Fabianski, Park, Andre Santos, Djourou, Chamakh, Benayoun, Coquelin. Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor, Agustien, Britton, Allen, Sinclair, Dyer, Graham. Subs: Tremmel, Dobbie, Lita, Moore, Bessone, Gower, Richards. Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire) Sunderland v Chelsea Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Bramble, Brown, Richardson, Larsson, Cattermole, Gardner, Colback, Sessegnon, Bendtner. Subs: Westwood, Wickham, Vaughan, Ji, Turner, Elmohamady, McClean. Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Mata, Lampard, Ramires, Meireles, Sturridge, Anelka. Subs: Hilario, Luiz, Torres, Malouda, Kalou, McEachran, Romeu. Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) Stoke v Liverpool Stoke: Begovic, Huth, Shawcross, Upson, Wilson, Pennant, Delap, Whitehead, Etherington, Walters, Crouch. Subs: Sorensen, Whelan, Jones, Wilkinson, Shotton, Jerome, Palacios. Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Kuyt, Adam, Lucas, Henderson, Downing, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Johnson, Carroll, Maxi, Coates, Spearing, Bellamy. Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear) Wolverhampton v Tottenham Wolverhampton: Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Kightly, Henry, O’Hara, Hunt, Doyle, Fletcher. Subs: De Vries, Elokobi, Hammill, Milijas, Vokes, Foley, Jarvis. Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, King, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Kranjcar, Parker, Modric, Bale, Adebayor, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Bassong, Livermore, Pavlyuchenko, Townsend, Falque, Giovani. Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) Everton v Aston Villa Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Coleman, Fellaini, Rodwell, Bilyaletdinov, Osman, Cahill. Subs: Mucha, Drenthe, Stracqualursi, Neville, Gueye, Barkley, Vellios. Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Delph, N’Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Ireland, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Clark, Bannan, Herd. Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 2.17pm: In fact, Andre Villas Boas’s team selection is very interesting: Sturridge, Mata and Meireles all start . 2.14pm: Villas Boas has made good on his threat – Torres drops to the bench for Chelsea. 2.10pm: Parker starts for Spurs, Falque on the bench, while Jenas isn’t in the Villa squad at Goodison Park. Full details shortly. 2.07pm: At Manchester City: “Edin Dzeko left out after playing two full games for Bosnia, Aguero played 9 and 14 mins for Argentina, Tevez had week off” writes our man Daniel Taylor on Twitter. The City team: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Y Toure, Milner, Johnson, Silva, Aguero, Tevez 2.05pm: Some early team news from the Emirates: Arteta starts, as does Mertesacker. Preamble What-ho clockwatchers, all. Hope you’re in fine fettle. Me? In the pink, old fruit, in the pink. Though I feel I may have been watching too many episodes of Jeeves and Wooster just recently. So what have we got to look forward to in the 3pm Premier League kick-offs? Stoke v Liverpool Everton v Aston Villa Manchester City v Wigan Wolves v Tottenham Sunderland v Chelsea Arsenal v Swansea It’s an intriguing set of fixtures . Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham will all do well to pick up three points, Everton against Villa is a tough one to call and Arsenal really must, must beat Swansea. Further down the leagues Crawley’s trip to Morecambe is a meeting of two pace-setters in League Two, Sheffield Wednesday v MK Dons and Huddersfield v Tranmere are highlights in League One and West Ham v Portsmouth and Southampton v Forest are worth keeping an eye on in the Championship. Speaking of Arsenal, as I was a sentence or so agho, I cycled past the Emirates on my way into the office this morning, with the fans already milling about near Finsbury Park or making their way to the ground. Spotted one newly-bought shirt with “ARTETA 10″ on the back, and another emblazoned with the words “YOU CAN’T BUY HISTORY”, which was either a) a rather pricey way, given the cost of letters on the back of shirts, of having a dig at Manchester City or b) being worn by a man who works in a record shop that sells nothing but Verve singles and has grown tired of telling customers when certain LPs are out of stock. I like to think it was the latter, and that he has an away kit with “YOU CAN’T BUY LUCKY MAN” on the back and a goalkeeper’s jersey saying “RICHARD ASHCROFT? SORRY WE DON’T DO SOLO STUFF. PLEASE LEAVE. AND LEAVE NOW”. Premier League Championship League One League Two John Ashdown guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Frantic search is underway for survivors after boat capsizes off east Africa carrying more than 500 passengers At least 107 people drowned when a ferry capsized in rough waters off east Africa as it sailed from Zanzibar to Pemba island, a doctor told Reuters on Saturday, the worst disaster in the archipelago’s recent history. Witnesses fear the death toll could rise sharply since the overcrowded ferry was carrying more than 500 passengers. Fishing boats and tour operators are scouring the sea for scores of people who are still missing after the disaster, which happened overnight. “Many of us got here about 2.30 this morning,” Suleiman Amis, 32, who works on a local diving tour boat, told Reuters. “We sent out some boats to search for the survivors, but we did not find them until very, very late. We have friends who we know were on that boat and we want to go back out to find them as soon as possible,” Amis said. Zanzibar and Pemba are the two main islands of the Zanzibar archipelago, a popular destination for tourists visiting their pristine Indian Ocean beaches. “The ship’s manifest shows that the vessel travelling from Unguja to Pemba islands had more than 500 passengers on board,” said Zanzibar police commissioner Mussa Alli Mussa. “Some 260 passengers have so far been rescued … we have recovered several bodies but I can’t give you the exact death toll at the moment because the situation is very volatile,” he added. Tanzania Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …